HEVC vs AV1: Best OBS Encoder for High Frame Rate

Choosing between HEVC (H.265) and AV1 for recording high-frame-rate gameplay in OBS Studio depends on your hardware generation and editing workflow. While both codecs offer superior compression compared to the older H.264 standard, they differ significantly in hardware compatibility, compression efficiency at high bitrates, and system performance impact. This article breaks down the direct differences between HEVC and AV1 to help you choose the best encoder for smooth, high-fps local recordings.

Compression Efficiency and Image Quality

AV1 is the newer and more advanced codec, designed to deliver better visual quality than HEVC at lower bitrates. For high-frame-rate gameplay (such as 120 FPS or 240 FPS), retaining fast-motion detail without pixelation is crucial.

• AV1: Provides the highest quality-per-megabit. If you want to keep file sizes smaller while maintaining pristine quality during high-motion scenes, AV1 is the superior choice.
• HEVC: Though slightly less efficient than AV1, HEVC still vastly outperforms H.264. At the high bitrates typically used for local recording (e.g., CQC/CQP 15 to 20), the visual difference between HEVC and AV1 is virtually indistinguishable to the human eye.

Hardware Compatibility and Requirements

High-frame-rate recording is highly resource-intensive, meaning you must use dedicated hardware encoders rather than your CPU (software encoding) to avoid dropped frames.

• HEVC Support: Widely supported across multiple generations of graphics cards. NVIDIA (GTX 900-series and newer), AMD (RX 400-series and newer), and Intel (sixth-generation CPUs and newer) all feature dedicated HEVC hardware encoders.
• AV1 Support: Requires modern graphics cards. To utilize hardware-accelerated AV1 encoding in OBS, you must have an NVIDIA RTX 40-series, AMD RX 7000-series, or Intel Arc GPU. If you have older hardware, AV1 is not a viable option for high-fps recording.

Performance Impact in OBS Studio

When capturing gameplay at 120+ FPS, any encoder overhead can cause in-game stutter or rendering lag in OBS.

• HEVC: The hardware chips (like NVIDIA’s NVENC) for HEVC are highly mature. Encoding 120 FPS or 144 FPS footage via HEVC puts minimal stress on your GPU, ensuring your game’s frame rate remains stable.
• AV1: Modern AV1 hardware encoders are incredibly fast and efficient. However, because the codec is more complex, using AV1 on entry-level compatible GPUs may result in slightly higher system overhead compared to the highly optimized HEVC chips.

Video Editing and Playback Compatibility

Before choosing an encoder, consider what you plan to do with the recorded files.

• HEVC: Highly compatible with most modern video editing software (Premiere Pro, DaVinci Resolve, Vegas Pro) and media players. However, Windows users may need to install the “HEVC Video Extensions” from the Microsoft Store for native playback.
• AV1: While native playback support is rapidly growing in Windows and web browsers, some older video editing suites still struggle to decode AV1 timeline footage smoothly without proxy files.

Verdict: Which Should You Use?

• Choose AV1 if you have a modern GPU (NVIDIA RTX 40-series, AMD RX 7000, or Intel Arc) and want the absolute best quality-to-file-size ratio for your high-fps recordings.
• Choose HEVC if you are using older graphics cards, want maximum compatibility with video editing software, or want the most mature, low-overhead encoding pipeline for ultra-high frame rates.